by B. J Daniels
As he breathed in the warm sea air, he felt the weight of the wedding band on his finger. A chill moved over his skin like a premonition of what was to come. If AJ was right, then his wife had tried to kill him. Would she try again? He still couldn’t shake the feeling that he was in danger, but maybe now he knew where it could be coming from.
He looked out at the waves breaking on the beach. “Thank you. But I think I need to be alone now. I’ll walk you back to your cottage.”
“That isn’t necessary. I can—”
“Oh, I’m perfectly aware of how independent you are and capable as well, since apparently you have gone from island to island looking for me,” he said, smiling over at her. “I want to walk you back.”
* * *
“I HOPE I HAVEN’T messed up,” AJ told Flint when she called him after Cyrus walked her to her cottage. “He confronted me. I told him everything.”
“How did he take it?”
“I’m not sure he believed me at first. He doesn’t remember any of it.”
“He doesn’t remember us.”
“No.” She felt sad for his family, sad for herself. “He’s scared. What is Juliette up to?”
“Still pushing for money along with demanding to know where her husband is. She was going to have to wait until after probate. But now with him alive... She’s offered to have the marriage annulled—for a price.”
“He’s wearing a wedding band. Maybe he did marry her in the heat of the moment.”
“Come on, none of us believe it’s a real marriage,” Flint said. “Juliette’s past, along with her actions, prove that.”
“Then, knowing your brother, how did they end up in front of the captain on the ship?”
“Cyrus, do something that impulsive? You know my brother.”
“I thought I did.”
“What happens now?” Flint asked.
“I guess that’s up to Cyrus. He’s going to need papers to get home—if that’s what he decides to do.”
“Tell me where to send his passport I got from Juliette. Don’t worry, I’m not about to come down there—or tell the others where you are. With his passport, he should be able to get back to Montana with your help,” the sheriff said. “After that...”
“What if she tries to kill him again before we get out of here?”
“If that happens, you’re in just as much danger as he is. Juliette doesn’t know he can’t remember. She also won’t know how much he’s told you.”
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
EACH DAY HE STRUGGLED. Not just with what AJ had told him, but everything about the woman. The kisses. The look in her blue eyes. The way he had to fight his urge to go to her. Worse, he had to fight that gnawing fear inside him that he still wasn’t safe. That he wouldn’t be safe until...
That was just it. Until he returned home and faced this wife of his? If she really had killed her other husbands, then even his family might not be safe around her. It was still so hard to imagine a wife, a family, life in Montana. But he had no reason not to believe AJ. He’d seen a photo of himself.
Still, without any memory... All he knew was that he wanted AJ like he’d never wanted anything in his life. Apparently he’d dragged his feet back in Montana, putting off kissing her... Maybe he was that shy, cautious rancher she’d told him about. Cyrus Cahill.
But the man he was now feared putting anything off and at the same time couldn’t bear the thought of leaving the one place he’d come to feel safe.
At the sound of a vehicle, he looked up, suddenly worried. But as Hermon’s taxi roared up, he saw that the big islander was alone. He kept working even as Hermon made his way to him.
“I thought you should know,” the man said keeping his voice down. “There has been someone else asking around about you on the island to the south.”
“Someone else?” His family, his wife? AJ hadn’t told them where he was but that didn’t mean they weren’t looking for him.
“A man.” He described a large blond man. “He had a badge and was American. I thought you should know.”
All Cyrus could do was nod. Hermon patted his shoulder. “Maybe you should think about leaving before he finds you.”
* * *
AFTER ANOTHER SLEEPLESS NIGHT, AJ woke not sure if Cyrus would even still be at the small resort. The morning after they’d talked, she’d expected to find him gone. But instead she had awakened to the sound of hammering and saw him working on the last cottage as if it was just another day for him.
Since then, they’d been cordial to each other, nothing more. She could see that he was working through some things. She didn’t think he would run. But in truth, she had no idea what he would do. She wasn’t even sure he did.
As she left her cottage, she spotted him hard at work. Marissa had made her lunch and with map in hand, AJ headed for the walk up to the natural hot spring. She’d been meaning to go up there since she’d arrived, but had never made it. She’d wanted to stay near Cyrus. Most days she lost herself in long walks on the endless beach.
Today she knew she couldn’t hang around the cove all day wondering what was going on in Cyrus’s head. She’d done enough of that. That he hadn’t said anything but went back to work said enough. She’d done what she could. The next move was Cyrus’s.
His passport had come in the mail. She’d thought about telling him, but he’d seen Marissa bring it to her, so he probably already knew since she’d mentioned to him that it was on the way.
She speculated that he needed time, and yet if she gave him too much, what would he do? What would Juliette do, now that she knew he was alive? AJ felt the clock ticking. Flint was right. If Juliette was the black widow they now knew her to be, then she wouldn’t let Cyrus get off this island alive.
But along with worry for his life, she was fighting her feelings for him. It was hell being this close to him and not even feel she could talk to him, let alone touch him. She second-guessed herself, worrying that maybe she’d told him too much. Maybe she shouldn’t have told him about Juliette. If he really had fallen in love with her...
AJ shook her head. What was she thinking? The woman was a black widow. She had six marriages from which only two husbands had survived. At least two states were investigating the deaths of her two last husbands and trying to prove that she was a murderer, Flint had told her. AJ knew she wasn’t wrong about Juliette. But that still might not save Cyrus from the woman.
As she climbed up to the path toward the hot spring, she tried to clear her mind. She’d worried enough about all of this and it wasn’t helping. Cyrus knew the truth—well, as much of the truth as she could provide. What he did now was up to him, she told herself as she trailed through towering palms and thick vegetation along a rocky steep trail to the hot spring.
Once she topped out, she stopped, startled by the beauty around her and surprised how little she had enjoyed this amazing place. The turquoise water, the white sand, the palms and now this array of flat rocks, small waterfalls and little hidden coves set against the tall palms. It took her breath away just looking at how picturesque it was and how much she would have loved to share this with someone. But that someone was Cyrus. She wasn’t even sure he’d ever been up here or that he could appreciate the island’s beauty under his circumstances.
She spread out her towel on the warm ground of one of the tiny coves and drank a bottled water before rising and taking off her beach cover. Stepping along the warm flat rocks, she found a spot where there was a natural stairway down into the water. She inched in until the hot water was chest deep before she lay back, floating, staring up at the endless blue sky overhead and praying that Cyrus would find some kind of peace in what she’d told him.
AJ didn’t know how long she lay like that in the luxurious water. Eyes closed she drifted as she tried to relax. So much was riding on her handling things well with Cyrus—
&n
bsp; She sensed him an instant before she felt the lap of the water warning her that she was no longer alone in the shimmering pool. Her eyes flew open as he reached her side. She tried to stand but he stopped her.
“Don’t move,” he whispered. “I want to remember you just like this.”
The words startled her, their meaning uncertain. She felt his hand in the small of her back as she met his eyes, not sure what she could see.
But his expression was calm, his gaze almost loving. Her heart hammered even harder. Water rippled over his strong, bronzed chest. His gray eyes intent on her, steam rose around them as he slowly pulled her into him.
“I know it’s not our first kiss but...” He lowered his mouth to hers. This time, she melted into him. Her hand went to his shoulders. He drew her closer, the water lapping around them. She leaned into him, into the kiss, savoring it because her pounding pulse feared it was a goodbye kiss.
As he drew back, she looked into his eyes. “Cyrus—”
He pressed a finger to her lips. “This is our last day here. Marissa said a package came for you. My passport right?” She nodded. “I have no idea what will happen tomorrow, but Hermon will take us to the airport whenever we’re ready.”
“You’re sure?”
“No, but I have to trust you.” His gaze locked with hers. “AJ, you were the one who came looking for me. When I saw you, I felt...something. You tell me that the Cyrus Cahill you knew was a cautious man. I just know that as hard as I’ve tried to keep my distance from you, I can’t resist you. I want this time with you. If you don’t...” He started to pull back, but she caught his shoulders and drew him to her. She looked into his eyes and leaned forward to kiss him.
He dragged her to him, their naked bodies slick and warm from the caress of the silken water. He encircled her in his arms and deepened the kiss, lifting her off her feet, their bodies melded together.
* * *
HE GROANED, TELLING himself that he’d never felt like this before. He couldn’t have fallen in love with that woman she’d called Juliette. Not with the way he felt about AJ. He’d felt it the moment he’d seen her that first night. He’d ached for her each day, fighting himself to stay away. He was through fighting. He couldn’t bear the thought that he might die today and not have her.
AJ pressed her full breasts against his chest, her nipples hard as seashells. He stroked her long, wet hair, her slim back, the saddle before the rounded rise of her buttock. He lifted her up. She fit so perfectly against him. He cupped her behind and pushed her onto his hard shaft.
She groaned against him as the warm water lapped against their bodies. He lost himself in her. In her mouth, her breasts, the sweet cries that came from her lips as he took her with abandon and she clung to him and urged him on. Desire was like blazing sun overhead. It roared inside him with a familiarity that he remembered. It had always been this woman. Only this woman.
He cupped her head in his hands and looked into those blue eyes. “Whoever I am, whatever has happened, this is where I belong,” he said as he plunged inside her. They rode each other like the strong waves of the sea, clinging to each other the way he’d clung to that buoy. He’d never felt more alive or safe than in this woman’s arms.
* * *
SPENT, HE CARRIED her to the sandy cove where he’d spread his towel next to hers. He lowered her slowly, lovingly to her towel, and then he joined her. Lying on his back staring up at the never-ending blue sky, he reached over and took her hand. She squeezed his gently and he closed his eyes.
Why had he not kissed this woman sooner? Maybe he wouldn’t have gone to Denver at all. Maybe they would have been lovers before he left. Either way, they would be together and this other woman...Juliette...his marriage and everything else would have never happened.
Like her, he couldn’t fathom how he would have married someone else when these feelings for AJ were so strong. Almost drowning hadn’t dampened his need for her. His yearning for her. He would have hurried home to be with her unless...
Unless what? This woman Juliette had done something to alter his thinking? It must have been some spell that he would walk blindly into a marriage with a woman he’d only known for a few days?
* * *
AJ COULDN’T BELIEVE that here they were in paradise together. She and Cyrus made love again, swam and then they’d shared the lunch Marissa had prepared. He asked no more about his family or his wife. Instead, they took a hike higher up the mountain to see the view. They held hands, they kissed, they looked into each other’s eyes as if memorizing the moment.
AJ suspected he wanted to hold on to this day as much as she did because the future was too unpredictable. It was what she was doing, as well. They had this moment in this incredible place. Tomorrow they would leave. Suddenly she didn’t want to go. Going back to Montana would mean Cyrus facing Juliette, remembering why he’d taken off with her on a cruise and married her. Worse, she wouldn’t put it past the woman to try to kill him again.
She pushed the thought away, telling herself they had this time together. She didn’t want to spoil it by thinking the worst. The day passed, the sun disappearing behind the mountain, the moon coming out.
They made love again, this time slower. In all her dreams AJ couldn’t have imagined their lovemaking would be like this. The sound of the water, the cool breeze caressing their skin, Cyrus’s hands on her, searching and finding her most sensitive spots, his mouth everywhere, lifting her up to suckle her breasts and lifting her even higher to probe her center until she cried out.
He’d gathered her up, her fingers buried in his hair, as he rolled her over on the towels spread out in the sand and entered her. She arched against him in the moonlight, her body aglow with the night sky and the flush of pleasure.
He took her higher and higher until she shuddered, a cry of gratification escaping her lips. He wrapped her in his arms, her arms around his neck, their faces bright from their lovemaking. He held her as their breathing returned to normal along with the frantic pounding of their hearts.
She lay there in his arms, him holding her as if he never wanted to let her go, protectively, lovingly. She wasn’t surprised when he whispered, “I wish we could stay here forever.” She met his gaze in the silver light, but before she could tell him she’d been thinking the same thing, he shook his head and said, “I know we can’t, but right now there is nowhere I want to be but here with you.”
Her throat closed with emotion, she could only nod and bury her face in his neck.
AJ’s stomach suddenly growled loudly, making Cyrus laugh. She loved his laugh, but mostly she loved that he was capable of laughing again. They lay side by side, facing each other, their naked bodies cast in moonlight.
He traced a finger along the hollow from her rib cage to the rise of her hip. “We’d better get dressed and see if Marissa saved us dinner.” His voice was soft, seductive. “If we keep lying here like this...” Her stomach growled again.
“Hunger wins out.” Leaning into her, he kissed her and then got to his feet.
She lay on her back for a moment staring up at the starry sky. Montana had bowled her over with its incredible big sky. Being from Houston she’d never seen so many stars. But here on this island, so far away from any lights other than natural ones, she couldn’t believe the night sky with all its galaxies.
Cyrus tossed her beach cover to her. Earlier she’d seen him lift his head as if he’d heard something. “Keep lying there like that and I’ll tell you what is going to happen.”
She smiled at him, tempted, but knowing he was right. She rose and dressed, feeling his caressing gaze on her as she did. “It is so hard to leave here.”
He nodded and, stepping to her, cupped her face in his weathered hands and kissed her sweetly. “AJ.” He said it on a whisper, the weight of it making her feel it at heart level. He seemed to breathe her in for a moment, before he stepped b
ack and began to stuff their towels into her beach bag.
“The trail down is a bit tricky. Why don’t you follow me.” He took her hand as they worked their way through the rocks along the side of the spring. Once into the thick vegetation and trees, only a little moonlight fingered its way through to the path, forcing them to a slower pace.
They hadn’t gone far when AJ heard a sound like an animal moving through the vegetation ahead of them. Cyrus stopped, turned toward her and motioned for her to remain silent. Ahead she could hear something headed their way.
She looked at him, trying to imagine what type of creature it could be. In Montana, it would have been anything from a bear to a mountain lion to a moose or elk or deer. But on this island...
One look at Cyrus’s expression and she knew that here it had to be human.
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
“IT COULD BE HERMON,” AJ whispered, wishing with all her heart that it was true. “Marissa could have sent him to check on us.”
Cyrus shook his head. “It’s not Hermon. I thought I heard a boat earlier. Listen. If something happens, I want you to run back down to the cottages and not look back. Marissa keeps a shotgun at the main cottage.”
“I don’t know how to—”
“Marissa knows how to use it and will. Go there,” he whispered next to her ear.
She started to argue, but he pressed his finger to her lips. Her throat went dry at the look in his eyes. That danger he hadn’t been able to shake had caught up with him? No!
They started down the trail again, moving faster, him keeping her as close behind him as he could. She strained to listen for the sound of someone in the darkness of the mountainside, but all she could hear was the frantic beating of her heart. In her head was only one thought.
She’d found Cyrus. They’d found each other. She couldn’t lose him. Not now.